Elder Oaks on Muslim Extremists, the Holocaust & the Need for Religious Freedom

"Understanding religion and religious freedom is essential to understanding world affairs,” Elder Oaks said in an address at Johns Hopkins. Elder Oaks then went on to challenge the claim that religion is the source of great atrocities, citing current and past events.

There is growing global recognition of the need for engagement with and understanding of religion — and protecting religious freedom.

That was the message delivered by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in his Feb. 9 address to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

“Such efforts are likely to prove powerful in the world of ideas and politics,” he said.

Elder Oaks introduced himself as a lawyer and former law professor and judge. But he emphasized that his life-long advocacy of religious freedom is grounded in his religious faith. As an apostle, it is his duty to teach and testify of Christ’s doctrine and divinity.